12 Steps to Recovery From “Twitter Follower Addiction”
Hello, my name is Ben Mapp (@roadmapp) and I’m a recovering “Twitter followers” addict.
I started off thinking I knew what was going on, that I could control myself. But then things slowly got out of hand.
Your Business in the Time of Crisis
Yesterday (Wed, July 15), this blog was offline for over an hour.
My All-Time Twitter #FollowFriday List
Twitter’s #FollowFriday has gotten a bit unwieldy.
Yes, it’s cool to acknowledge the friendly, helpful, and insightful tweeps you meet and get to know. But, the constant streams of ever-longer lists of “cool tweeps” takes up lots of screen real-estate.
My eyes start to glaze over with “FollowFriday blindness.” And I don’t always have the time to give shout-outs to all the people I’d like to.
That said, I thought I’d highlight the people who have made my all-time Twitter #FollowFriday list.
Some are marketers, some aren’t. Some I’ve spoken to offline, most I haven’t. Some are famous in their fields, most aren’t. Some I converse with on Twitter, some I just read and/or RT. Some have lots of Twitter followers, many don’t.
The common thread is that they all provide value in some form or fashion and, to me, their tweets are must-reads for one reason or another.
So, here goes, a list-in-progress in no particular order and sometimes in more than 140 characters. (Hey, my blog, my rules! 
):
@Bonniestwit Bonnie’s a tutor in NYC, who simply kills Twitter. You want to know how to “do Twitter right,” follow Bonnie. Period. She’s fun, provocative, inspiring, personal yet never boring. She rocks.
@LarisaBelliveau Another Twitter supastar who “gets” the medium with no agenda other than to communicate and be communicated with. Insightful. Fun. A friend I’ve yet to meet.
@Follow_Steph Steph is definitely good tweeple who says, “I love to Promote other Twitizens. I guess I’m a Twitterholic.” He communicates, RTs when he likes a tweet, and gives props when props are due. In fact, his #FollowFriday Tribute page is the inspiration for this post.
@melmilletics Melanie takes social media marketing to the next level. Informative. Hilarious. Follow and learn attraction marketing in action. Plus, her site’s chock-full of awesome marketing tutorials: Sponsoring Success.
@unmarketing No doubt a skilled marketer with an expertise in social media. Never one to shy away from an opinion or discussion, his posts and probing questions caused me to re-think my Twitter presence and stop auto-following. From Scott’s bio: “Stop Marketing, Start Engaging.” Indeed.
@itsallsuccess Seems like we’ve known each other for a long time. A professional network marketer who’s in the masterminds of several Big Deals. Literally. Deborah knows it’s really all about people, not just products and comp plans. Her blog says that and more importantly she lives it.
@PerryBelcher Bio: “Seriously Bad Ass Marketer & Neurological Copywriter With a Gift From God.” Yup. Tweets useful links about how to do cool web, marketing, copywriting, etc stuff. Plus, his informative videos usually feature a whiteboard.
@LorenaHeletea Bio: “Passion to Coach. We figure out where our old Beliefs have us stuck. We create new habits, set goals, identify actions.” Always positive vibes from another person who “gets Twitter.” She’s not a successful life coach for nothing!
@jawar Not just because his tweet style is featured in Mike Klingler’s “How I Built My First List” as an example of great tweeting, but because he’s truly motivational, insightful, and a masterful networker. Best plus: He really supports his tweeps and is great at connecting people with common interests.
@Ferny_Ceballos & @RaymondFong No, they’re not the same person with multiple accounts. But they are biz partners in SEO Networker. Cool guys who know their *ish about SEO and marketing.
@h0neyb One of the first people I “met” on Twitter and one of the most memorable. I mean, who else do you know who blogs about bees and can chronicle her move from UT to DC without sharing too much or revealing too little?
@rebelbrown Even my “more than 140-character” leeway can’t do Rebel justice. She’s real, humorous, caring, committed to transformation (of people, of organizations), a great conversationalist, a great ally. Simply a great person I’m privileged to know. Her ebook “Its Not About You Anymore” is a straight-up strategy for positioning your business. It’s free (no signup required). Get it. Read it. You’ll learn something.
@k0zm0zs0ul A masterful copywriter who I think of as the “Queen of the RT,” which is all good because the people she follows — and the perspective she has — leads to very useful tweets from all over the map.
@lorenzomyers The name of his business says it all about Lorenzo: Positive Impact Solutions Positive impact, indeed. He’s got a lot going on and will RT when he likes what he sees and reads.
@kimshahan Kim always seems to tweet some info or a new tool that makes me go “why didn’t I think of that?” or “why didn’t I know about that?” She’s connected, makes informative videos, and constantly creates useful content everywhere. A whirlwind.
@darrenmonroe First noticed Darren right before one of his “24 Hour Twitter Marathons.” Told him to make sure to walk around a bit! Seriously, Darren’s a committed entrepreneur who’s got his pulse on Twitter and marketing. And, he’s combined the two into a great Twitter program.
@vernitasherman Not a frequent tweeter, but when Vernita tweets a marketing tip, take note and take action. As cited here before, Vernita’s truly committed to being what her bio says– an “Internet Marketing Coach for Solopreneurs.”
@vene2ia Bio: “Physician, writer, entrepreneur, educationalist, pianist, world traveler, sports, good friend to many (not necessarily this order!). Carpe deum-what’s sleep?!” Judging from Yvonne’s blog, it’s all true. Plus, a fellow chocoholic with a nutrition site to prove it!
@marketingmandy Her first at-reply to me was a helpful suggestion. And from there, she’s been a consistent source of assistance and thoughtfulness, which embodies what her company, Marketing Kinetics, is all about: Strategy, Action, Results.
@ALauderdale Bio: “Bio Triple major, M.A. candidate, songwriter and poet trying to bring change to the world. I also have this blog people seem to like.” His blog, First Wonder of the World provides a peek inside the complex mind of a guy who clearly got a lot going on.
@kemet He stepped to me once saying that network marketing doesn’t work. I stepped back to him with some mojo of my own. We’ve been cool ever since. Provocative, opinionated, calls-it-like-he-sees-it, Bill will educate you on how to have your money work for you on his blog and Internet radio show.
(If you’re not following me — @roadmapp — or just started to, please check out my Welcome Twitter Followers page for more info.)
Wishing You the Best,
Ben Mapp
@roadmapp
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Twitter and Social Media Identity Theft
Social media identity theft is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
Several high-profile celebrities have been in the news regarding fake Twitter accounts and some have gone to court over the issue. A few of the more popular cases involved:
- Tony LaRussa, baseball manager, who filed a lawsuit against Twitter, alleging an unauthorized and defamatory page in his name.
UPDATE: Later, on the day this post was published, Twitter co-founder Evan Stone responded to LaRussa’s lawsuit and detailed Twitter’s plans to combat false accounts, which include a “Verified Accounts” feature. Read Stone’s blog post. - Kanye West, Grammy-winning hip hop rapper/producer, who famously flamed Twitter on his blog over a fake account.
- Shaquille O’Neal, NBA superstar, who one-upped a Twitter Shaq impersonator by setting up his own Twitter account. Game over.
As an Internet marketer, your ability to be effective in your marketing is directly related to
(a) creating a name for yourself and/or your brand online and
(b) establishing the credibility of your name and brand.
If someone is abusing your name on social media sites or pretending to be you, that can have a negative affect your image and can adversely impact your business.
Build a List for Free Using Social Media
Building a list is one of the top priorities for any Internet Network Marketer. You can buy lists or rent lists. But building your own list is by far the best way to go. When you build your own, you have your own customers, or potential customers, not someone else’s.
So, where do you start?
Old-School Network Marketing List Building
In the old model of Network Marketing, you can buy leads from other people’s lists. There are some obvious problems with this approach:
- * It’s gets expensive
* You’re not necessarily getting "hot leads"
* Cold-calling to people who may or may not want to talk with you
What’s the solution?
Internet Network Marketing List Building
There are lots of free ways to attract leads to you on the Internet. The benefits of these attraction marketing methods are:
- * They’re free
* Your leads are already interested in what you’re providing
* You’re calling people who would welcome hearing from you (and may have requested that you contact them).
How exactly is this done?
"How I Built My First List"
Mike Klingler’s three-part video series "How I Built My First List" demystifies the list-building process by showing you step-by-step how he built his first list of 1,172 Prospects in 3 Days days when he was a newbie by using methods that are free and available to everyone.
Central to Mike’s approach is applying the concept of "leverage" to developing content that grabs the reader’s or viewer’s interest.
In the videos, Mike shows how he used the following techniques to generate interest and list members:
- * Leveraging a social movement
* Leveraging timely content
* Leveraging a well-known person
The most useful part of the series is that Mike breaks down how you can use these same methods to build your own list.
Use Social Media to Build Your List
Mike focuses in detail on social media as a means of list-building: Articles, Videos, Twitter, social networks.
"How I Built My First List" takes you beyond the obvious "socializing" aspect of social media and reveals the specific ways to use attraction marketing techniques to create an online presence that attracts prospects to you and build your list.
Video #3 is my favorite one. Here, Mike outlines how to use Twitter to develop relationships and potential prospects. He provides a wide range of specific examples of the type of tweets that attract prospects, how to create an "attractive" online presence, and how to leverage that presence into leads for your list.
The power of using social media to build your list is that even before someone joins your list, they have developed a relationship with you and vice-versa. They’re not just a name on a list, but a person that you know. More importantly, you are someone that they know. And that relationship strengthens your ability to market to that person over time.
The Value of Your List
"How I Built My First List" is probably the most comprehensive tutorial on free list building available.
Building a list by first developing relationships is powerful and will give you added leverage in marketing to that list over time.
As you continue to add people to your list, you will be continuing to develop those relationships. As your list grows and the relationships strengthen, you’ll have an increasingly powerful tool that will enable you to market effectively to an ever-growing number of people.
Want to fast-forward your business and your list-building efforts?
Then "How I Built My First List" is the video series for you.
Wishing You the Best,
Ben Mapp
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